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Insane in the Mainframe
Plot The episode opens with a celebration for Dr. Zoidberg's tenth anniversary at Planet Express. After finding out that Zoidberg's pension fund was empty because he never paid into it, Fry realizes his retirement is also in question. After blowing most of his savings, $100, on lottery tickets, Fry opens an account at the Big Apple Bank. While at the bank, Bender meets an old acquaintance Roberto, who then robs the bank. Unfortunately Fry and Bender are arrested for the robbery, and, due to the aloof attitude of Judge Ron Whitey both are sentenced to stints in the Asylum for Criminally Insane Robots. Fry is sent there because the Home for Criminally Insane Humans was full after Judge Whitey had declared poverty a mental illness. After a nightmarish time in the Robot Asylum, in which Fry survives because of a sick vending-machine robot and Bender takes up the identity of Napoleon Bonaparte, Fry becomes convinced he is a robot and is released. As Fry struggles to determine his function, Bender is approached by Roberto who had been caught robbing the same bank and asked to help him escape. Roberto then robs the same bank for a third time to thank Bender for his help in escaping, but it's a sting and the pair flee to Planet Express to escape the police. When the Police surround the building, Roberto takes the crew hostage. Then Fry concludes that he must be a Battle Droid and attacks Roberto to save his friends. In the scuffle, Fry is cut and realizes he is not a robot but human after all. Memorable Quotes Hermes: Poor Fry, he's got the munchies for freedom. Amy to Fry: Awww! He looks like a little insane drunken angel. Smitty: Fire lasers! rebound on laser-proof glass Duck, lasers! Roberto: Back off! I've got hostages! Zoidberg: Hooray! I'm helping! Smitty: Do you have any better hostages? Hermes: Fry! Don't be a hero! It's not covered by the health plan! Trivia *The title is a reference to one of the refrains in the song "Insane in the Brain" by Cypress Hill: "Insane in the membrane". *The robot Norm, who hears transmissions from the CIA lunchroom, is a reference to Lucille Ball, who said that in 1942 she heard Morse code signals in lead fillings in her teeth that she reported to the FBI and led to the arrest of a Japanese spy.Lucille Ball and her fillings on Snopes *The character Nurse Ratchet, who runs the ward, is based on Nurse Ratched from the book and film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. *The robot in the cafeteria that constantly tells everyone to "change places" is a reference to the Mad HatterMad Hatter from the story Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll; his hat displaying the fraction "5/3" is a parody of the tag reading "In This Style 10/6" attached to the Mad Hatter's hat. 10/6 is equivalent to 5/3 in fractions, although the original tag referred to the hat's price of ten shillings and sixpence in pre-decimalized British coinage. *The Hal Institute for Criminally Insane Robots is a reference to HAL 9000, the murderous artificial intelligence in 2001: A Space Odyssey. 2001: A Space Odyssey *Bender claims to have Stockholm Syndrome Stockhom syndrome while being held hostage by Roberto. *Dr. Perceptron’s head resembles a plasma lamp, a device commonly found in novelty shops, originally invented by Nikola Tesla. Nikola Tesla *The robotic Abraham Lincoln is partly a homage to the animatronic Lincoln in Disneyland's Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln attraction, especially in how Lincoln rises from his chair very slowly. *Bender has a human heart in his chest compartment. This is a reference to Anthology of Interest II, when Bender tells the crew that he needs a human heart to pump blood out of his basement. Goofs French, which Bender speaks when he pretends to believe himself to be Napoleon, was referenced as an "incomprehensible dead language" in an earlier episode.A Clone of My Own Footnotes Category:Season Three